having hard time finding ammo out there

Walmarts around here mostly have removed their rifle sections but still generally carry amunition. When I lived in middle GA, they still had the rifles. Today I went to three different Walmart stores trying to find .22lr rounds and only the last one had ANY .22lr rounds and even than the woman who got them for me said they got that shipment in that morning and they'd be all gone by this evening. Oh, and they have a 6 box limit on all ammunition. When I went to the gun show recently, there was plenty of ammunition, but all at slightly-to-very elevated prices. I paid $6 for 50 rds of CCI Stingers and .45 rounds were going for $25 for 50rds.

Walmarts around here mostly have removed their rifle sections but still generally carry amunition. When I lived in middle GA, they still had the rifles. Today I went to three different Walmart stores trying to find .22lr rounds and only the last one had ANY .22lr rounds and even than the woman who got them for me said they got that shipment in that morning and they'd be all gone by this evening. Oh, and they have a 6 box limit on all ammunition. When I went to the gun show recently, there was plenty of ammunition, but all at slightly-to-very elevated prices. I paid $6 for 50 rds of CCI Stingers and .45 rounds were going for $25 for 50rds.

Until my first order of 3000 rounds came in I was paying 32.50 for 50 rounds of 230gr 45. That was at the range I use.

I've even gotten 2 emails from Midway this week regarding primers that had been out of stock and were now available. Unfortunately I had forgotten that they don't ship powder from their store location which I had planned to add to the primer order and now would mean 45.00 for 2 HAZMAT charges I decided to wait for my local dealer for the primers.

The Wall Marts around near me here sell guns and ammo. Right now they have a full rack of rifles and shotguns and some BP rifles and supplies for them also. I noticed a couple of certificates on the wall indicating they sold over 1 Million Dollars of G&A at that one store each year for the last couple of years in a row. (so I guess Upstate NY is full of us Rednecks)

For ammo, they have been generally spotty lately. They get it in and then it's gone. I go through a lot of .22 and they don't have any of the brick boxes left. Those bricks are apparently the first to sell out. I have been buying CCI Mini Mags there in the 100 round plastic boxes for $6.49 a box. (I normally shoot at least 1 box of them a week) The other day when I was there they had 100 round plastic boxes of Winchester Super X HV and I bought the last 2 boxes of those along with a box of Winchester 50 Supreme HV pleated HP's. They had those and the small boxes of 50 RN in several brands. Thunderbolts and something elce......don't recall now. They had no 100 round boxes of Mini Mags left that day. Handgun ammo is spotty there also but I did manage to pick up a box of 38 +P there about 2 weeks ago as they had no 357 magnums.

I just came back from Sportman's Warehouse - a shopper advised that he did a massive purchase of ammo in California prior to returning to NM. Alot of stores have stocked shelves. Do not know how true it is!

FEATURE
Yesterday, I saw something that gave me the same kind of tingling sensation I used to get when staring in the window of Begman's Bike & Hobby Shop in Lebanon, Kentucky as a kid. It wasn't a model airplane, train set or even an Estes rocket, but it was certainly the stuff that adult shooters' dreams are made of these days.
Ammunition....shelves, boxes, and crates of ammo - in all sizes and flavors.

I expected to see shotgun shells in quantity when I visited one of the country's best outdoor retailers. After all, dove season is the official kickoff of hunting season. But when I wandered inside, I was shocked to see ammo in quantities like I'd not seen in some time.

There, alongside premium hunting ammunition from Winchester, Remington, Federal, Nosler, Hornady and others were cases of 7.62x39, .308, and even .40 S&W and 9mm pistol cartridges. There were even battle packs and wooden cases of surplus ball ammo from overseas -in 1,000 round quantities. It's been a while since I've seen this much ammo in that wide a variety.

A couple of phone calls to ammo suppliers later in the day made it clear Mark's wasn't the first sign of an end to the ammo shortages we've been reporting nationally.

That also means no slowing of the angry emails from readers wanting to know why they couldn't find loaded ammo in certain calibers or reloading components in almost any flavor.

I promise that I'm no different from the rest of you, I've cut back on practice time and am substituting dry fire with lasers, airsoft and even air rifle for my normal practice routines. No time spent on sights and triggers is wasted, but it's really not the same.

The ammo shortages are easing, but there are factors in play that absolutely prevent a quick-and-easy resupply.

At the risk of repeating myself- some calibers are used by the military - in prodigious quantities. Their needs take precedence, and the need to supply and replenish their supplies has eaten up new production. A shortage of new ammo has caused surplus and imported ammo in those demand-calibers to also dry up.

Another caliber, the .380 has enjoyed an unprecedented resurgence in popularity. And there's no single reason; it's a confluence of several things. First, demand for small, concealable personal defense handguns. The .380 has historically met that easy concealment requirement. Advancements in ammo have made it a very effective personal defense round. Factor in new .380s (like the Ruger LCP) and you have a hot product.

That demand wasn't anticipated when ammo manufacturers were making their production plans for the year. All calibers aren't manufactured all the time. And the demands of the military have taken a toll on those production schedules.

What slips?

First, calibers that don't have historically high demands. Then, components for reloaders.

If manufacturers are using all their parts and pieces, there aren't any left over for handloaders. Again, as new production dries up, secondary supplies are bought up until they're gone.

What we're seeing today isn't an example of hoarding, it's a classic example of supply and demand. When demand is high, supplies dwindle. With scarcity comes inevitable price increases.

Unfortunately, most of us are on the demand side, hoping to get re-supplied.
A note regarding the holiday weekend: We will not be publishing a Monday edition. The first shooting edition of next week will be Tuesday's Tactical Wire. We'll be back Wednesday on our regular schedule.

I bought a box of 100 Winchester High Speed RN .22 this morning at Wall Mart before I went to the range. I only fired off the one box and 1/2 of another so I didn't get into my stash too much. There was no .38 or .357 ammo today. Other handgun ammo was real sparse.

Most places here are starting to have the common stuff in stock on a regular basis now, with the exception being .22lr and .45acp. .45acp is hit and miss, but I haven't seen bulk .22lr in months. Even .223/5.56 is pretty easy to get a hold of right now.

I bought a box of 100 Winchester High Speed RN .22 this morning at Wall Mart before I went to the range. I only fired off the one box and 1/2 of another so I didn't get into my stash too much. There was no .38 or .357 ammo today. Other handgun ammo was real sparse.

Walmarts around here mostly have removed their rifle sections but still generally carry amunition. When I lived in middle GA, they still had the rifles. Today I went to three different Walmart stores trying to find .22lr rounds and only the last one had ANY .22lr rounds and even than the woman who got them for me said they got that shipment in that morning and they'd be all gone by this evening. Oh, and they have a 6 box limit on all ammunition. When I went to the gun show recently, there was plenty of ammunition, but all at slightly-to-very elevated prices. I paid $6 for 50 rds of CCI Stingers and .45 rounds were going for $25 for 50rds.

There's 2 things that will eventually bring down the prices we are now seeing in some if not many retail outlets.

1. A fall-off in demand. Not all shooters are going to pay $25 for 50 45 ACP rounds, and if they do will not shoot them in the quantity they once did. This would apply to all reloading components as well.

2. An increase in supply. I'm already beginning to see this in isolated cases. With this much money to be made in either loaded ammunition or reloading components, there is no doubt that not only manufacturers in the US but also Worldwide are going to be running 24/7 in order to take advantage of these current prices and windfall profits.

We may, for a period of time be forced to use foreign made components, and although I would be willing to use (Chinese for example) primers and bullets, I think I may wait when it comes to powder. That's not to say I believe it to be dangerous, but there may be enough differences in burning rates for example that the rounds I'm attempting to duplicate may be difficult, and it may turn out that differences in primers could be enough to change performances by a noticeable margin as well. But I imagine, rather than doing without I will use some of foreign made components just to have something to shoot if the prices are half way reasonable.

With prices being as high as they are, I believe it will not take manufacturers Worldwide to ramp up production and sell while the prices are still high. I know that many shooters are expecting prices to remain at these new higher levels, and I do imagine prices will not likely drop to where they were prior to the hoarding generated shortage, but sooner or later the shortages we are seeing now will turn to surpluses and prices WILL fall. But when and by how much, we will just have to wait and see.